I thought the scene in the Kitchen with the Dodos was very reminiscent of the kitchen scene from 'Jurassic Park' with the Velocaraptors, only with a lot more humour.
I like the way the conspiracy theorists always have an explanation for everything, no matter how ridiculous it sounds.

My turn to gripe this week.
I didn't like the way the infected people's eyes glowed, why would having a parasite inside you make your eyes glow? like a Gauld from Stargate SG-1. Sloppy and unnecessary

Well it's a neat visual shorthand for suggesting pocession. You could say the same for when Ace was pocessed by the Ceethah People in "Survival" and Professor Sorenson when he's infected by the anti-matter force in "Planet of Evil"

"Survival" is available on DVD next month along with "The Runaway Bride".

Yes they are. "Survival" was the last story from the original series in 1989. "Planet of Evil" was an early Tom Baker story from 1975. I'm not plugging these but only using them as examples from your comment.

Planet of Evil was one of the best. It won an award for the design of the planet. It was also repeated.
Survival I have never seen. I hated that era of Who. But I have seen clips with Master becoming ferral and attacking the Doctor.

Yes they are. "Survival" was the last story from the original series in 1989. "Planet of Evil" was an early Tom Baker story from 1975.

OK, you can expect that sort of thing when you're being possessed by an alien, I know some parasites can affect the hosts brain making it do strange things, for instance there is a fungus that infects ants, it makes the host climb to the top of a twig and stay there until it dies and then the flowering part of the fungus grows out of the ants back as a long spike which disperses it's spores. But I have never heard of a parasite that will make your irises fluores, What would be the point!? it only acts as an early warning system (STAY AWAY FROM ME, I'M INFECTED) can't you see my eyes are glowing as if someones shoved a 100w bulb up my nose? The special effect is cheap and tacky, they should have left it to the actor's performance, which was good enough.

All right Ladies and Gentlemen sorry I've been away. I went down with flu and then my Mother was ill. Here's my views on the last two "Primeval" episodes.

The fifth episode wasn't bad but I felt the sub-plot of Abby and Connor searching for Rex didn't contribute anything and was simply to get them into scrapes. Much better were the strains between Cutter and Claudia Brown with suggestions that Claudia is finding the encounters with extinct lifeforms very stressful. At the start she orders Captain Ryan to shoot the terradon, and later, when Cutter and Stephen are trying to shoot it with a tranquillser dart she panics and runs. "No more favours" she screams at them before the terradon wacks her with it's beak. The scene where Claudia quietly tells Cutter she's blind was well played and credit to Lucy Brown for depicting Claudia's fear and vunerability. Despite this when the terrorsaurs invade the house Claudia, left alone, feels her way to a rack of golf clubs and fights off the flying killers. A good one-liner I liked was during Cutter and Claudia's first escape. "This is becoming a habit," Cutter says. "What rescuing me or taking my clothes off" Claudia asks. It's Helen who rescues Claudia though and again you're left wondering what her motives are.

Two bits of direction I liked were the cuts as the would be golfer tries and fails to hit the ball, and the camera tracking up and alongside the ambulance as we hear a medic attacked by a swarm of terrorsaurs. The effects work had some memorable shots of the terradon gliding over the London skyline with St Pauls in the background, and climbing off the flatbed at the end. There was also another joke at the expense of the SAS team as they all crowd into a lift, guns at the ready.

The final episode shown last night, had Helen returning to warn the team of an alien predator from the future that had made it's way into the present. The creature, a cross between a bat, a high-speed gorilla and a face similar to H R Giger's Alien was impressive and startling, but again some opportunities were missed. Having the creature in the daylight earlier on robbed it of any mystery and the scenes of it killing the lion and later, Abby's boss were too casual. (Esspecially as Abby's boss has only appeared twice in the whole series).

However I did like the scenes of the creature stalking Abby first in the elephant enclosure and later, the aquarium (which reminded me of similar scenes in Hitchcock's "Sabotage" and Orson Welles' "The Lady from Shanghai") and the fight with it in the barn where the creature was scuttling over the skylight and rapidly plucking out men. The revelation that there were infants was shocking and raised the stakes esspecially as two were left alive in the past at the end. Cutter's battle with the creature; seizing one of the squealing, disgusting infants and luring the creature into a greenhouse was well done and visually memorable with him blinding the creature by shooting out the glass panes so that there are brilliant blue flashes in the creature's vision.

The climax was very good and somewhat apocalyptic with Cutter discovering that the campsite and human remains that he and Captain Ryan had found on their first visit were theirs. Having Ryan killed was shocking considering he was a series regular, and the creature's surprisingly vicious fight with the gorgonopsid showed that while it may be ruthless, it was no match for brute force (The gorgonopsid falls on top of it).

Another plotline I liked was Claudia's continual stress which I hope will be developed in the next series. Lucy Brown has been very good in the last two episodes but the best performance has been Juliet Aubrey as Helen. Aubrey has brought a tension to her scenes which has helped to shake up the group and even in brief shots such as appearing suddenly behind Stephen in the distance, sitting cross-legged on a bench or leaning seductively against a door frame Aubrey has been memorable. I also liked her pop-eyed expression as she watches Claudia kiss Cutter before entering the anomoly. The character has also been less clean-cut than the others and I hope she returns for the next series.

The cliffhanger at the end was satisfactory and you're left wondering what's happened. Has Cutter arrived in a parallel universe; has Helen been responsible for Claudia's disapperance; have the alien predators somehow upset the balance or has something else happened? My overall opinion is that "Primeval" has been good in parts but does need to tighten itself up for the next series and has been too laid back. It does have strong points which it can capitalise on which I hope aren't wasted. The same could also be said be said for "Torchwood" which like "Primeval" is also an adventure/thriller series but was prepared to take risks.

Well, "Primeval"'s over. Roll on "Doctor Who"; the finale to "Life on Mars" where hopefully Sam's journey will be resolved. The film: "Sunshine" by the team behind "28 Days Later", and the DVD releases of "Hogfather", "Artemis 81" and "Neverwhere."

Sorry to hear you've had the flu, hope you and your mum are better now.

I've enjoyed the whole series, I love the idea that creatures from the future can also step into our time.
At one point I had to answer the Phone, so I missed why they were taking the infants back to the Prehistoric era, can you clarify for me please?

Although we knew their interfering in the past could have a devastating effect on history, Claudia's disappearance came as a big surprise and left me wanting more. It's good to hear there's going to be another series, did they say when?

The reason why the infants were taken back into the past was to use them to track down the anomoly that led to the future. Helen said that was how the predator had travelled back to the past and that was where she'd first encountered it. It was her idea to use the infants rather than kill them as Cutter wanted, however that was a mistake as two of them have been left at large in prehistoric times. And woe betide should they ever find the anomoly.

Re when the series is back I presume it'll be sometime next year along with the new series of "Torchwood", and season four of the new "Doctor Who". And no I'm not going to get into that that game of guessing when David Tennant is going to leave!

Re when the series is back I presume it'll be sometime next year along with the new series of "Torchwood", and season four of the new "Doctor Who". And no I'm not going to get into that that game of guessing when David Tennant is going to leave!

I heard them mention that on the TV yesterday morning. it would be a shame if he did leave, I like his style of portrayal.

Have also found out that "Life on Mars" John Simm is going to appearing in the next series as the mysterious "Mr Saxon". Presumably he'll be in the two-part finale and Saxon will probably the running thread same as "Bad Wolf" and "Torchwood" were in the previous series.

I didn't see the first series of 'Life on Mars' but I heard it was good. So I started watching the second series but I didn't have a clue what the hell was going on so gave up, I'll try and catch series one when they repeat it again.

Re Life on Mars. It helps if you've been watching it from the start so you can undertand Sam Tyler's predicament and running threads such as Sam trying to convince Annie who he really is, the "bleed throughs" of Sam hearing his doctor's voices, life support equipment he's (apprantely)on and the visions of Open University lectuers and the Test Card Girl coming out of the television to talk to him. The first series dealth with Sam trying desperately to return to the present; convinced that he's in a coma and needs to wake up, and unravelling the mystery of his father's disappearance which inspired him to join the police. The second series (of which there are two episodes left to go) has fleshed out the characters of the thugish Ray - traumatised after being caught in a bomb blast - and the seemingly dim-witted Chris who's showing initiative and intelligence, plus a gradual growing attachment between Sam and Annie. Sam has also been receiving some very sinister 'phone calls hinting at a resolution to his problems. If nothing else then watch it for the splendid recreation of the seventies and Philip Glenister's performance as DCI Gene Hunt whose unPC outlook of booze, fags, slags, fists and one liners such as: "I could
drink that lot under the table and still stop off for a pint on the way home" has made him a cult figure and got him listed among SFX's "Fifty Great Things About Sci-Fi". Next week's episode will have Gene dressed up as Tufty the Squrriel and I don't think he'll be promoting road safety!

The first series of Life on Mars is out on CD, and the the second will be out next month. Give it another try. I did with Primeval.

I shall probably get the first series' DVD set out from Blockbusters, so I can follow the story better. In the episode I saw he kept getting these sinister Phone calls and I didn't have a clue what was going on. I shall watch it, but in the right order.

Ho Ho, I' glad someone else remembers Tufty the Squrriel. Though they were road safety films I thought the models in them were well designed and very detailed. At school there were also some sick jokes at Tufty's expense. The public Information films were released on DVD about two years ago but I don't knw if the Tufty films were included.

As for the 'phone calls that Sam Tyler is getting, they've only appeared in the second series. After the first call, Sam traced the number back to Hyde (presumably in Manchester) where Gene and the others thought he'd come from only to be curtly told over the 'phone not to call again. The implication is that it's his doctors talking to him as they did in an episode where Sam was apprantely given an accidental overdose (although later on in the same episode, Anne is told that Sam was slipped some LSD by a suspect he was questioning). Also, Sam's mother, aunt and Maya, his girlfriend have also been speaking to him over the 'phone, police radios and even, a Bollywood musical which featured in last week's episode where Maya told Sam she was leaving him. Sam also met Maya's pregnant mother and named her baby as Maya. With his family writing him off as dead and his girlfriend gone will Sam want to return home?

There's also an implication that Gene, beneath his tough surface, is starting to crack. The relationship between him and Sam came to breaking point last week, and it was implied (but not stated) that the psychotic Toolbox Terry roped in to track down Asian drug-dealers, was his long-lost brother. It's not the first time Gene has put his trust in criminal types to help him uphold the law only to find they have their own agenda. Next week' episode involve an action of Gene's that affects the whole team and we are promised a mysterious Chief Inspector who seems to know about Sam's predicament.

I was a member of the Tufty Club too. And bought the DVD a few years ago with all those old education adverts. Lapped it up. Last Life on Mars tomorrow. They're doing a spin off next set in 1982 without John Simm. But the other core members. I don't know how, but I have an acquaintance in the show. They were all gutted when Simm decided to leave, he had signed up to do three seasons but got out of it somehow. It was originally offered to Robert Carlyle but he wouldn't commit to 3.
However I think 3 seasons may have stretched the idea to far, as we all want to know what exactly has happened.

However I think 3 seasons may have stretched the idea to far, as we all want to know what exactly has happened.

This does seem to be a problem when a production company has a good series going, they are reluctant to call it a day and the show drags on and on without coming to a satisfactory end and eventually the viewing figures drop-off and the company runs out of money leaving the story unfinished. Ive got a nasty feeling this is going to happen with 'LOST', which would be a shame.

It just shows the edge "Life on Mars" has over "Lost". When it first apeared people were saying it was from the same stable as "Lost". Last week "Heat" magazine suggested that "Lost"'s production team take notes from "Mars". Also, if American televison is better than ours then why are they planning to remake "Life on Mars"? Who would their Sam Tyler encounter: Starsky and Hutch, Kojak, Ironside or Columbo?

I've just watched the first episode of the new series of "Primeval" and it's still good.
I was glad to see they called the dinosaur a Utahraptor and not a Velociraptor, which is only 2.5 feet high, it looks like they've done their homework on this one.
New series of "Torchwood" starts this Wednesday if any one's interested.

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